Circumnuclear star formation in Mrk 42 mapped with Gemini Near-infrared Integral Field Spectrograph

TL;DR

This study uses Gemini NIFS observations to map circumnuclear star formation in Mrk 42, revealing a star-forming ring, gas kinematics dominated by rotation with an outflow, and evidence of nuclear starburst activity.

Contribution

First detailed near-infrared integral field spectroscopic analysis of Mrk 42's nuclear region, identifying a star-forming ring and complex gas dynamics.

Findings

A circumnuclear star-forming ring of ~500 pc radius.

Detection of an outflow component blueshifted by 300-500 km/s.

Evidence of nuclear starburst activity alongside the AGN.

Abstract

We present Gemini Near-infrared Integral Field Spectrograph (NIFS) observations of the inner $1.5\times1.5$ kpc$^2$ of the narrow-line Seyfert 1 galaxy Mrk 42 at a spatial resolution of 60 pc and spectral resolution of 40 km s$^{-1}$. The emission-line flux and equivalent width maps clearly show a ring of circumnuclear star formation regions (CNSFRs) surrounding the nucleus with radius of $\sim$500 pc. The spectra of some of these regions show molecular absorption features which are probably of CN, TiO or VO, indicating the presence of massive evolved stars in the thermally pulsing asymptotic giant branch (TP-AGB) phase. The gas kinematics of the ring is dominated by rotation in the plane of the galaxy, following the large scale disk geometry, while at the nucleus an additional outflowing component is detected blueshifted by 300-500 kms$^{-1}$, relative to the systemic velocity of the galaxy. Based on the equivalent width of Br$\gamma$, we find evidences of gradients in the age of HII regions along the ring of Mrk 42, favoring the pearls on a string scenario of star formation. The broad component of Pa$\beta$ emission line presents a Full Width at Half Maximum (FWHM) of $\sim$1480 kms$^{-1}$, implying in a mass of $\sim\,2.5\times10^{6}$~M$_{\odot}$ for the central supermassive black hole. Based on emission-line ratios we conclude that besides the active galactic nucleus, Mrk 42 presents nuclear Starburst activity.